GCHS' Cannon earns Achievement Scholarship

Gadsden City High School senior Khalid Cannon reveals he will attend Yale University during the National Signing Day program, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2013, in Gadsden, Ala. Cannon has been awarded a $2,500 scholarship as a National Achievement Scholar.

Marc Golden | Gadsden Times | File

Times Staff Report

Published: Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at 6:21 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, April 12, 2013 at 8:15 p.m.

Khalid K. Cannon of Gadsden City High School has been awarded a $2,500 scholarship as a National Achievement Scholar.

Cannon’s National Achievement $2,500 Scholarship award is supported by the National Merit Scholarship Corp., which conducts the National Achievement Scholarship Program.

Cannon is among about 800 outstanding black high school seniors who earned Achievement Scholarships through the National Achievement Scholarship Program.

A senior at GCHS, he was a lineman on the Titan football team. He has been awarded a full academic scholarship to Yale University, where he will study this fall.

More than $2 million in Achievement Scholarships financed by 34 corporate groups, professional associations and the NMSC were announced today.

The National Achievement Scholarship Program is a privately financed academic competition established in 1964 specifically to honor scholastically talented black American youth and to provide scholarships to a substantial number of the most outstanding participants in each annual competition.

By the conclusion of the 2013 program, marking the 49th annual competition, about 32,600 participants will have received scholarships for undergraduate study worth more than $103 million.

More than 160,000 students entered the 2013 National Achievement Scholarship Program by requesting consideration in the competition when they took the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test as high school juniors. In September, about 1,600 of the highest scorers were named semifinalists on a regional representation basis.

To continue in the competition, semifinalists had to fulfill requirements for finalist standing, which included having a record of consistently high academic performance; being endorsed and recommended by an official from their high school; earning SAT scores that confirmed their PSAT/NMSQT performance; and writing an essay.

From the semifinalist pool, some 1,300 advanced to the finalist level, and the 800 winners were selected from this group.

<p>Khalid K. Cannon of Gadsden City High School has been awarded a $2,500 scholarship as a National Achievement Scholar.</p><p>Cannon's National Achievement $2,500 Scholarship award is supported by the National Merit Scholarship Corp., which conducts the National Achievement Scholarship Program.</p><p>Cannon is among about 800 outstanding black high school seniors who earned Achievement Scholarships through the National Achievement Scholarship Program.</p><p>A senior at GCHS, he was a lineman on the Titan football team. He has been awarded a full academic scholarship to Yale University, where he will study this fall.</p><p>More than $2 million in Achievement Scholarships financed by 34 corporate groups, professional associations and the NMSC were announced today.</p><p>The National Achievement Scholarship Program is a privately financed academic competition established in 1964 specifically to honor scholastically talented black American youth and to provide scholarships to a substantial number of the most outstanding participants in each annual competition.</p><p>By the conclusion of the 2013 program, marking the 49th annual competition, about 32,600 participants will have received scholarships for undergraduate study worth more than $103 million.</p><p>More than 160,000 students entered the 2013 National Achievement Scholarship Program by requesting consideration in the competition when they took the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test as high school juniors. In September, about 1,600 of the highest scorers were named semifinalists on a regional representation basis.</p><p>To continue in the competition, semifinalists had to fulfill requirements for finalist standing, which included having a record of consistently high academic performance; being endorsed and recommended by an official from their high school; earning SAT scores that confirmed their PSAT/NMSQT performance; and writing an essay.</p><p>From the semifinalist pool, some 1,300 advanced to the finalist level, and the 800 winners were selected from this group.</p>